Perspective

Radley Balko writes that Muslim immigration in America is a success story:

In contrast to many of the minority Muslim populations in
Europe, American Muslims embrace modernity,
are better educated, and earn more money than their
non-Muslim fellow citizens. A
2007 Pew poll suggests American Muslims are also doing just
fine when it comes to assimilating and viewing themselves as part
of America. According to the poll, just 5 percent of American
Muslims express any level of support for Al Qaeda, and strong
majorities condemn suicide attacks for any reason (80+ percent),
and have a generally positive image of America and its promise for
Muslims.

According to the poll, the only subset of American Muslims where
support for Al Qaeda and suicide attacks gets uncomfortably high
is among native-born African-American converts, many of whom
converted in prison. To the extent that this particular subset of
American Muslims is more prone to radicalism and less optimistic
about America, it has nothing to do with immigration/assimilation
problems, and seems more likely to stem from lingering hostility
about race. That is, it's an American problem, not a Muslim
problem.

I'd wager this success is due partly to the fact that the constitutional approach to American assimilation, as articulated by Ross Douthat, is more common than his account of the cultural approach.

We want to hear what you think about this article. Submit a letter to the editor or write to letters@theatlantic.com.